I wrong footed them this morning , instead of letting the birds out then coming into the cottage for breakfast and a bit of light housework! (lol) I unwrapped my bagel and sat sentry on top of the duck house with the plastic rake in my hand.
This ruse wrong footed the starlings who remained firmly in the trees giving me the evil eye.(well giving me around a 1000 evil eyes) and their agony was compounded when I continued to remain on the field to clean out several of the hen houses but not before I hand fed the geese and ducks with some corn and bits of bagel.( you could almost hear the starlings drooling at this stage!)
I know it was a petty victory. Starlings have the brain the size of a peanut! But at least it made me feel a little better.
I have had to hide smaller feeders inside the hen houses in an effort to protect the feed from the raiders....if anyone out there has any more advice please let me know......it's becoming a bit of an obsession.
Watched a so-so thriller last night called Case 39.....It was worth watching just for the American version of Matt Cardle....Bradley Cooper who played a hunky psychiatrist!
When I was a psychiatric nurse we NEVER had any shrinks that looked like Bradley.........mores the pity.
Gawd,I have just remembered a funny memory from years ago!
When I was a student nurse I sat in with an interview an old Austrian Psychiatrist (honestly he WAS Austrian!) was having with a neurotic lady who was refusing to leave hospital ( although she was well enough to do so)
The conversation went as follows
( try to "picture" a thick Austrian accent!)
Patient (anxiously) " Oh doctor I cannot possibly leave hospital, I feel so ill, I just cannot cope"
Doctor: nodding calmly "hummmm sure sure sure sure sure!"
Patient: "no honestly doctor I just cannot go home"
Doctor: Making a mime with his hands- forming a small circle" first it like this"
Then he made a fluttering movement with his fingers
"then.........it like this!!!!"
Patient (bemused) " I dont know what you mean doctor!"
Doctor: "watch my sweet" and slowly and deliberately he repeated his mime and stated again
"First it like this.....now it like this!"
The patient looked confused but nodded imperceptibly in politeness
Four times the doctor performed this very slow little game, and after the final mime asked gently
" you understand my dear?"
The patient nodded
"OK he said brightly waving his hand to the door "You discharged!"
"Yes doctor" the patient said vaguely and got up and walked out.
After she left the office I sat there rather confused by the whole thing then piped up
" What did you just do?"
The psychiatrist smiled thinly as he cleaned his glasses
"who knows!" he said simply...... " it worked!"
A treadle feeder, like this?
ReplyDeleteLink
Nx
Laughed out loud regarding the starlings.
ReplyDeleteI should watch it, you might need a psychiatrist yourself if they keep it up, I'm getting a bit worried about you.
Have you ever read the poem 'I'm a Starling Me Darling' by Pam Ayres it sums them up really well.
Briony
Our Great Pyrenees patrols the skies and does not like any gathering of birds above his head. Ducks, geese and starlings are put on the run, at least to the next group of trees on the neighbor’s property. This is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI looked at these nige
ReplyDeletenot quite sure how they will useful for my shower but may well give it a go
I can almost call you doctor yourself now eh?
Here is what you should try with the starlings to make them leave.
ReplyDeleteFirst: like this (circle, circle)!
Then: like this (flutter, flutter)!
Method mentioned above has been known to get rid of unwanted old birds!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at the starlings coming in like a bombing squad!
ReplyDeleteLOL...good one about the psychiatrist...I even had a visual!
ReplyDeleteI hate starlings too but I'm not sure what else you can do other than keep the food inside the critters 'houses' John. I hope you have a wonderful afternoon! Maura :)
I love the way you tell a tale. xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm having starling problems myself. The dogs will bark at them and scare them temporarily, but, they circle around and come right back. My house is all "beshat" upon by these buggers!
ReplyDeleteSorry, no advice from me....
I think that starlings are an inevitable force of nature. Hopefully, come Spring, they will disperse. Funny, the ones around here don't go for the food I put out for the birds. Instead, they head straight for the cat food. I hope that my next door neighbors can't hear me beating on the window and screaming.
ReplyDeleteI've been having a lot of red-winged blackbirds, myself. They too, wait in the big tree across the road for and "all clear".
ReplyDeletewish i had some tips for you regarding the pesky birds! i'm perfected coyote deterrent here in the desert, not birds, ha ha. well, you should get a job as a traveler- my last job we had a hunky psychiatrist. he was the california type if you don't mind those... he works in frye boots, levi 501's, a short sleeved button up (sometimes hawaiian print) and long kept hair in a pony tail with goatee. he is a hottie, though!
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with this Matt Cardle thing???
ReplyDeletebel we all can get a little obsessed......even you do.....as I recall!
ReplyDeleteAs per usual, the comments are almost as entertaining as the post!
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with starlings - they are my favourite bird.
ReplyDelete2 to 3 million of them roost near my house every winter - absolutely gobsmackingly brilliant they are.
Check out this:
http://viewsfromthebikeshed.blogspot.com/2010/12/two-million-and-one.html
Hey John, I'm with Mark on this one. They are birds too, just not very popular at this moment. Maybe encourage them,somehow, to move to another area where they will have a 'supply' of feed....given them by a village 'fundraiser drive'..... At least until the summer comes when I assume they will have more natural choices/sources for their food supply. Otherwise, Nigel's idea looks promising.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen a few starlings on this property. My neighbor calls them "rats of the sky".
ReplyDeleteBro,
ReplyDeleteDid you read Jan's blog recently, she can load and fire a shot gun?
much love Ann xx
mark!
ReplyDeletethey eat 25 kilos of hen food a week!
thats alot of egg sales for me and something I cannot afford!!!
grrrrrrrrrrr!
ReplyDeletelol
'Down boy!'
ReplyDeleteThose sneaky psychiatrists!
ReplyDelete.if anyone out there has any more advice please let me know....
ReplyDeleteHere's my advice old chap. Find out exactly what starlings prefer to eat and then set up a line of feeders specially for them - oh and stop moaning about starlings! Just get out there and feed them!
sigh
ReplyDeletepud not useful
How about erecting a few tents in the field to put the food in so the starlings can't see it?
ReplyDeleteLoved the psychiatrist story!
ReplyDeleteOh this was brilliant! Made me laugh all the way through, from the photo/metaphor of war planes to the psychiatrist at the end. I think part of the reason it's so funny to me is because that kind of thing is really true--there's often not a whole lot of rationale to moving on from one thing to the next. Sometimes we just have to confuse our mind into getting out of the way. :-)
ReplyDeleteDia
I have to admit, every time you bring up the starlings, I picture you in the backyard with an old blunderbuss packed with gravel and rocksalt. Don' know how effective it would be, but I bet it would be extremely satisfying....
ReplyDeleteKatie
that's a funny story.......I thought he was making the image of a bird flying out of the hospital?
ReplyDeleteGill in Canada